Category: Blog Series Page 2 of 220

BOOK SPOTLIGHT: Soul Fraud by Andrew Givler

On April 15, 2026

I’m very pleased today to welcome The BBNYA Finalist for Andrew Givler’s Soul Fraud! Not only can I assure you that this book is addictively fun, it came in 8th in a crowded field, so you know there’s something good going on. I’ll be posting my $.02 about the book later today, in the meantime, click on the banner below to see what other bloggers are saying about it.

Before getting to this Spotlight, let’s start with a word about BBNYA.

BBNYA:

BBNYA is a yearly competition where book bloggers from all over the world read and score books written by indie authors, ending with 15 (17 in 2025) finalists and one overall winner.

If you want some more information about BBNYA, check out the BBNYA Website https://www.bbnya.com/ or take a peek over on Twitter @BBNYA_Official.

Pilcrow

Book Details:

Title: Soul Fraud by Andrew Givler
Series: Debt Collection, #1
Genre: Fantasy, Contemporary Fiction
Age Category: Adult
Format: Hardcover/Paperback/Ebook/Audiobook
Length: 364 Pages
Publisher: Sad Seagull Publishing
Publication Date: June 30, 2022

About the Book:

Matthew Carver has a terrible life. Seriously – it’s awful. It is so bad that Dan the Demon is shocked when Matt turns down his infernal offer: ten years of a blissful life in exchange for his soul.

But Dan is a salesman behind on his quota and his demonic managers are running out of patience. He forges Matt’s signature on the dotted line, stealing his soul and thrusting him into a supernatural world he never knew existed.

Now Matt must figure out how to get his soul back and stop a war before it is too late…

Book Links:

Amazon Canada ~ Amazon US ~ Amazon UK ~ Goodreads ~ The Story Graph

About the Authors:

Andrew is the author of the Debt Collection and Ironbound series and also a gaming YouTuber known as Sigils. He loves making people laugh, video games, and food. (Not always in that order.) He lives in LA.

To learn more about him you can go to his website: http://andrewgivler.com.

Website ~ Twitter ~ Instagram ~ BookTubea> ~ TikTok

My thanks to The Book Bloggers’ Novel of the Year Award for the invitation to participate in this tour and the materials (including the novel) they provided.

The Book Bloggers’ Novel of the Year Award 2025 Finalist badge

Fantasy with Friends: Do You Prefer High or Low Fantasy?

By HCNewton

On April 13, 2026

In Books, Fantasy with Friends, News/Misc.

Fantasy with Friends is a weekly meme hosted by the good people over at Pages Unbound. Fantasy with Friends poses questions each Monday about fantasy, either as a genre as a whole or individual works.

This week’s prompt is:

Do you prefer low or high fantasy? Or both?

As with almost every question I can think of along these lines, I’m going to have to go with “the one I’m currently reading/most currently read.” Unless, of course, I didn’t like that book. I can name favorites on either side of that division (although I’m afraid some purists would consider a lot of things I dub “low” are “high” thanks to the subjective nature of the categories).

But…wand to my head, I’d have to say high fantasy is my preference. I want all the bells and whistles—magic users, fantasy creatures, mystical MacGuffins, ancient prophecies, maybe even a Chosen One, and so on. They can be dark or silly—the escapism from this world, the

Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled Citywas so entertaining that I didn’t even notice there was zero magic, and is the first example I can think of for “low” fantasy. The minimal (or at least seemingly minimal magic of) The First Law trilogy or the Eddie LaCrosse books is really appealing—sure, there’s a possibility that a dragon or wizard might show up, but basically it’s about a human, their wits, and ability to use a weapon against some challenge. Although it’s a lot of fun to see when the high fantasy elements do seep in. I have to admit that in the last few months I’ve read two fantasy novels that were so low, I lost patience with them and kept muttering “where’s the fantasy?” as I read them.

Most of the cozy fantasies I’ve read qualify as “low,” if you cave out a caveat or three. And it’s generally the “low” parts of those that make them the most interesting, the interpersonal stuff plus the other—opening a jam shop, becoming a local beat cop, baking, running a bar and creating nachos, and so on. The “high” bits are just what make them cozy fantasy, and not cozy fiction.

But when you (in the general sense, not necessarily you) think of “Fantasy,” you’re inevitably thinking of High Fantasy—the One Ring, Dragons, mages like Raistlin, vorpal swords, elves, dwarves, kenders/hobbits/halflings, goblins, orcs, and so on. There’s a reason for that. They’re characteristic of the genre, they’re what (probably) initially attracted you to the genre, and they are the source of a lot of the fun of the genre.

I’m really looking forward to some of the other posts in response to this prompt, if only because I expect a good recommendation or six.

Do you have responses to this? (either for the comment section below or from your own post)

Saturday Miscellany—4/11/26

By HCNewton

On April 11, 2026

In Books, News/Misc., Saturday Miscellany

Odds ‘n ends about books and reading that caught my eye this week. You’ve probably seen some/most/all of them, but just in case:
bullet The Quiet Collapse of Reading—and the Only Real Solution—I less-than-three the solution a lot
bullet How Amazing Stories Served as the Blueprint for American Science Fiction
bullet Movements Need the Critical Thinking That AI Destroys—this doesn’t technically fit my heading, but it’s close enough. If nothing else, I need a place to save this link so I can use the article.
bullet GET TO KNOW: Bestselling Author Craig Johnson
bullet This week’s Fantasy with Friends prompt How Do You Define “Fantasy”? had some really good responses to what proved to be a challenging task. Briana’s contribution on the host page is a great starter.
bullet The Bibliophibian had some good input, too.
bullet I was relieved and pleased that Pete Long weighed in, as futile as the exercise may be.
bullet JCM Berne’s Twitter comment offered what might be the best definition (definitely the pithiest). But he also pointed to a less-brief discussion he posted a few years ago, I think I linked to it some time ago.
bullet Books About the Pursuit of Knowledge—a handy listicle from The Orangutan Librarian
bullet 5 Unhinged Thrillers You Need on Your TBR — Dark, Twisted & Completely Addictive!—and another from The Crime Book Junkie (how I missed it for 2 weeks, I don’t know).
bullet Carol treated us to a This Not That post, which are always fun–if only so you can think of your own answers.
bullet Lastly, it’s Narratress’ Indie Book Sale time again! Go set your eyes on some goodies!

My favorite sentence/passage/phrase (or two) that I read this week:
“You can’t go home.”

“Why not?”

“I don’t know. Because it’s gone.” Aminata frowned, finished her drink, and nodded. “You can’t find it again. Even if you go back, it’s not there anymore. That’s history, that’s how it works! Someone’s always changing someone else.”
—The Traitor Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson

To help talk about backlist titles (and just for fun), What Was I Talking About 10 Years Ago This Week?
bullet Calamity by Brandon Sanderson
bullet Waylaid by Kim Harrison
bullet The Red Storm by Grant Bywaters
bullet A Far Out Galaxy by Marjorie Thelen
bullet The Watcher in the Wall by Owen Laukkanen
bullet And I mentioned the releases of: Burned by Benedict Jacka; Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire; Waylaid by Kim Harrison; There Will Always Be a Max by Michael R. Underwood; and Shadow Rites by Faith Hunter.

This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon (I’ll warn you now, next week’s list will be massive):
bullet The Great Big Bear and Other Stories of the Iron Druid Chronicles by Kevin Hearne—12 new Iron Druid (et al) stories!
bullet The Museum of Unusual Occurrence by Erica Wright—”Rational and cynical Aly Orlean’s life in her psychic hometown of Wyndale, Florida couldn’t be more hectic. It’s all about running her business, raising a teenage sister, sending out holiday greetings–and her new task: finding a killer.

For her Museum of Unusual Occurrence not only houses odd curiosities but now has a brand-new display: The body of Rose Dempsey, a local twenty-year-old, set up in one of the exhibits as if she has been ritually sacrificed.” This definitely looks different than the other Wright books I’ve read–which is not a bad thing, I stress. Be sure to check out what Witty and Sarcastic Bookclub said about it.
bullet The Dead Can’t Make a Living by Ed Lin—Great title. Fantastic cover. Oh, and the premise is pretty good, too: “Jing-nan, the owner of the most popular food stand in Taipei’s world-famous Shilin night market, is hauling trash after a successful evening of hawking Taiwanese delicacies to tourists when he finds a corpse propped up against the dumpsters. The dead man turns out to be Juan Ramos, a Philippine national who came to Taiwan for a job at a massive ZHD food processing plant… This rollicking crime novel is a scorching, timely examination of our global dependence on undocumented immigrants.”
bullet The Infinite Sadness of Small Appliances by Glenn Dixon—”In a near future, where even the smallest of appliances are sentient, a young Roomba vacuum sets out to save the humans of her house from a rising technological power in this compelling, original novel.”

WWW Wednesday—April 8, 2026

By HCNewton

On April 8, 2026

In Books, Currently Reading, News/Misc., WWW Wednesday

I would make a lousy recipe blogger–yet again, I can’t come up with an intro for this post. Let’s just get into it, shall we?

This meme was formerly hosted by MizB at A Daily Rhythm and revived on Taking on a World of Words—and shown to me by Aurore-Anne-Chehoke at Diary-of-a-black-city-girl.

The Three Ws are:
What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Seems easy enough, right? Let’s take a peek at this week’s answers:

What are you currently reading?


Electric City Switches by M.D. Presley	Ancillary Sword by Ann Leckie, read by Adjoa Andoh

I just got started with this ARC from Presley, so I don’t have much to say yet. But it’s nice to be back in this world.

Okay, I’ve not heard how to pronounce a lot of the books in Ancillary Justice, and I was right about 2 of the many. And the new characters/worlds/ethnicities? I wouldn’t even want to guess how to spell 99.5% of them. Like I said last week, I’d heard the narrator is great–and she is. But Leckie’s text is complex enough that I am listening to this much slower than usual–and have had to rewind some

What did you recently finish reading?


Paranormal Payback edited by Jim Butcher and Kerrie L. Hughes	Cat on a Hot Tin Woof by Spencer Quinn	Violet Thistlewaite Is Not a Villain Anymore by Emily Krempholtz, read by Emma Ladji

Paranormal Payback is (as one might expect) a mixed bag–but the highs are very high. And the lows aren’t that low. I’ve added a couple of authors to my “look into” list.

I enjoyed this Chet and Bernie bookas I talked about earlier today.

What do you think you’ll read next?


The Traitor Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson	Enemy of My Enemy by Alex Segura, read by Michael David Axtell

I really don’t know what to expect about Dickinson’s book (one Fantasy group I’m in on Facebook featured a tepid-at-best review of this book a couple of days ago), but I’m looking forward to seeing for myself. At least for now.

Yes, I’m afraid of ODing on Daredevil. Oh, well…I’ve been waiting for this book too long, it’s a risk I’m willing to take.

What are you (hopefully) enjoying this week?

Fantasy with Friends: How Do You Define “Fantasy?”

By HCNewton

On April 6, 2026

In Books, Fantasy with Friends, News/Misc.

Fantasy with Friends is a weekly meme hosted by the good people over at Pages Unbound. Fantasy with Friends poses questions each Monday about fantasy, either as a genre as a whole or individual works.

This week’s prompt is:

How do you define “fantasy” as a genre?

This is tougher than I’d think—you know it when you see it? Nah, that’s not satisfactory. Well, there’s that old line from Clark about sufficiently advanced science, right? Fantasy is like that—just there’s no science involved (and no interest in it).

It’s a work of fiction with an accepted active supernatural world—magic, creatures like dragons, owlbears, hippogriffs, etc. Usually set in some sort of pre-Industrial world (frequently one where Industrialism isn’t needed—see Abercrombie’s recent The Age of Madness trilogy to see an exception). Even if it’s a work without a lot of evidence of magic or those creatures, and so on Our friends at Merriam-Webster use phrases like, “conceived or seemingly conceived by unrestrained fancy” and “so extreme as to challenge belief” to define “fantastical,” and that’s pretty close to me.

Even the no science thing is slippery, Bennett’s Shadow of the Leviathan books have a science. Just nothing we’d recognize as such. And there’s enough fantastical elements to that science to keep it in the world of Fantasy. Other examples I can think of fall into similar paths (I just can’t think of a more science-y Fantasy…oh, Blood Over Bright Haven, too). Even outside of Urban Fantasy (set in a world much like our own with matching technology), there are plenty of exceptions to the above. So many, in fact, that my definitions are useless. Bringing me back to the “you know it when you see it.”

Okay, it took 200+ words for me to just say, “I dunno, really.” And that’s after two drafts of this post. I don’t have the time or patience for a third–and I’m pretty sure it’d just be adding more words and coming up with the same result. I’m really looking forward to some of the other posts in response to this prompt to help me come up with a definition that I like.

Do you have responses to this? (either for the comment section below or from your own post)

Saturday Miscellany—4/4/26

By HCNewton

On April 4, 2026

In Books, News/Misc., Saturday Miscellany

I had a great time at the 4th Annual Treasure Valley Book Fair at the Nampa Public Library–got to chat with a few authors I’ve met before, met a couple of handfuls of new-to-me authors. Walked out with a healthy stack of books (wish it was a few more…but, budget is smaller than my appetite). I hope to be bringing you some more about this soon.

Odds ‘n ends about books and reading that caught my eye this week. You’ve probably seen some/most/all of them, but just in case:
bullet @dlondonwortel posted about this great resource from Harvard—hundreds of recordings of authors reading their poetry. The names alone…
bullet The collapse of literary curiosity—this is so good.
bullet Asteroid Savage – my next book releases June 2026—Thomas Trang starts by giving an update/announcement about his June 2026 release, and ends up saying a lot more. The backstory for this book makes me as eager to read it as the premise does.
bullet AI Can’t (And Never Will) Write Good Books—JCM Berne drops by Stewart Bint’s blog to sound off a bit.
bullet The Art of Interview and Interrogation: A retired police detective discusses his approach to interviews, in fiction and in life.—I’ve never read Swinson, but I’m in the mood to now.
bullet The Specific Experience of Being Stuck on a Book—Once again, Molly Templeton does a fantastic job capturing something we’ve all experienced, but couldn’t put into words
bullet The Indie Author Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Horror New Release List: April 2026—A.J. Calvin brings this month’s batch of Indie Temptation.
bullet The Costume Changes, the Cage Remains – The Four Pillars of Crafting a Dystopia
bullet Book Characters Seldom Engage in Making Restitution—This brushes up against something I’ve been working on for a while. Maybe so close I don’t need to bother…or maybe it’s the kick in the pants I needed to finish. But most importantly, this is something that you should check out.
bullet Funniest (and Craziest) Library Stories!—good stuff
bullet Is the Future of Libraries Screen-Free Children’s Areas?—Speaking of libraries…
bullet Monthly Manga Mania Featuring Firsty Duelist: Blue Lock by Muneyuki Kaneshiro and Yusuke Nomura—Whoops, I missed this last week.
bullet This April 1 had some pretty tame offerings (or lame, if you read mine). This was the best that I saw.

A Book-ish Related Podcast episode (or two) you might want to give a listen to:
bullet Six Elementals Interview #61 with Michael Michel—P.L. James interviews Michael Michel. Looks to be a good ‘un

To help talk about backlist titles (and just for fun), What Was I Talking About 10 Years Ago This Week?
bullet The Shootout Solution (Audiobook) by Michael R. Underwood, Mary Robinette Kowal
bullet Heroes and Villains: Pawn in the Game by Tara R
bullet A Devil in Hong Kong by David Harris Lang
bullet And I mentioned the release of Javelin Rain by Myke Cole

This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
bullet This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me by Ilona Andrews—”When Maggie wakes up cold, filthy, and naked in a gutter, it doesn’t take her long to recognize Kair Toren, a city she knows intimately from the pages of the famously unfinished dark fantasy series she’s been obsessively reading and re-reading while waiting years for the final novel. Her only tools for navigating this gritty world of rival warlords, magic, and mayhem? Her encyclopedic knowledge of the plot, the setting, and the characters’ ambitions and fates.”
bullet Upward Bound by Woody Brown—”A wondrous, deeply affecting portrait of the interlocking lives at an adult day care center in Southern California, depicting an often overlooked community with extraordinary wit and grace”

WWW Wednesday—April 1, 2026

By HCNewton

On April 1, 2026

In Books, Currently Reading, News/Misc., WWW Wednesday

It’s Wednesday already and I’ve barely written a thing for the week…well, let’s see if I can break the block with this quick look at my reading and listening.

This meme was formerly hosted by MizB at A Daily Rhythm and revived on Taking on a World of Words—and shown to me by Aurore-Anne-Chehoke at Diary-of-a-black-city-girl.

The Three Ws are:
What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Seems easy enough, right? Let’s take a peek at this week’s answers:

What are you currently reading?


‘Salem’s Lot by Stephen King	Five Days in Paris by Danielle Steel, read by Victor Garber

It’s time for me to get over my disinterest, and I’m starting my year-long project of reading all of King’s works. As per my custom, I’m starting with his second novel. I didn’t know what I was missing!

I can’t get enough of Steel, as you all know. I somehow overlooked this 2000 release–I’m having a blast with it. Although I’m not sure Garber’s voice is great for audiobooks (or anything else, really)

Okay…I tried to do a whole phony post in keeping with the day. But all I could think of were horror and romance titles, and I got bored–you would’ve, too. I can’t invoke E. L. James, even as a joke. I thought about throwing in Louis L’Amour (but I actually have enjoyed his stuff–even if I’m not huge on the genre) or beating up Austen or Gabaldon again. But that just seemed mean. So, okay, enough of the April Fool’s nonsense, on with actual answers.

What are you currently reading?


Paranormal Payback edited by Jim Butcher and Kerrie L. Hughes	Cat on a Hot Tin Woof by Spencer Quinn	Violet Thistlewaite Is Not a Villain Anymore by Emily Krempholtz, read by Emma Ladji

I’ve enjoyed previous collections edited by Butcher and Hughes. This assortment of revenge tales looks promising, can’t wait to dive in at lunch–and not just because the first story is Butcher’s.

Spencer Quinn, Chet, Bernie…Cat on a Hot Tin Woof almost has to be a winner. Poor Chet has to help Bernie hunt down a missing (Internet-famous) cat.

Krempholtz is really charming me. I had my doubts about starting it, but whatever it was that convinced me to place a hold on it seems to have been right.

What did you recently finish reading?


Nav’Aria: The Marked Heir by K.J. Backer	Return to Sender by Craig Johnson, read by George Guidall

Backer’s debut had some issues (almost all of which could’ve been addressed with an editing pass)–but it’s a good story, well-told, and I’m eager to see what happens next.

Revisiting Return to Sender was a mixed bag–everything I liked when I read it last year, I still liked. The problems I had re: long-term arcs, seem worse. Overall, a rewarding experience, and it definitely primed my curiosity for his May release.

What do you think you’ll read next?


Electric City Switches by M.D. Presley	Ancillary Sword by Ann Leckie, read by Adjoa Andoh

Presley’s Inner Circle books are some of the most intriguing UF that I’ve read the last few years. To say that I’m eager to dive into this ARC would be underselling it.

I liked Leckie’s Ancillary Justice, but wasn’t that interested in going on. But at the Book Club meeting, one person had gone on to finish the trilogy and she said a couple of things that led many of us to rethink that. She also raved about the job that Andoh did, so… I am a little worried that the way Leckie wrote Justice will be hard for me to follow in audio format–but since I’m primed, maybe I can handle it.

What are you starting April with?

Fantasy with Friends: Underrated Fantasy Books

By HCNewton

On March 30, 2026

In Books, Fantasy with Friends, News/Misc.

Fantasy with Friends is a weekly meme hosted by the good people over at Pages Unbound. Fantasy with Friends poses questions each Monday about fantasy, either as a genre as a whole or individual works.

This week’s prompt is:

What is an underrated fantasy book you would recommend?

When I saw this prompt, one title jumped immediately to mind. “Well, this is going to be an easy post,” I said to myself. And then I felt bad that I didn’t think of another book. Then another came to mind, and when I started actually writing. I will do my best to stop thinking about it so I can actually finish this post.

The Tufa Series by Alex Bledsoe

I’ve never seen anyone else talk about this fantastic series about a small ethnic group in Appalachia who are supernaturally wonderful musicians. And just supernatrual, too. I loved each and every one of these, even if I didn’t write about them all. For more information, check out https://alexbledsoe.com/the-tufa/.

The Art of Prophecy by Wesley Chu

Despite having loved this so much, I’ve yet to read the other two books in the trilogy. There’s Chosen One, who turns out not to have been; there’s a cranky old woman who’s the greatest martial artist alive–who teaches the spoiled brat who turns out not to be that Chosen more than anyone expected; there’s an assassin going around causing trouble and…so much else going on. I was blown away by this wuxia-inspired novel and highly commend it. (as I tried to express here)

The Hero Interviews by Andi Ewington

This is the one that jumped immediately to mind. Ewington’s satire/celebration/commentary on D&D and related fiction/games is ridiculous and thoughtful. In this book, a non-adventurer goes around interviewing all sorts of Fantasy types who are adventurers or are adventurer-adjacent about what it means to be a hero. He finds a lot more than that–and maybe learns a bit about himself. (I gushed about it here)

The Part About the Dragon Was (Mostly) True by Sean Gibson

Speaking of hilarity…this book tells the story of how a group of adventurers vanquish a dragon. It’s a well-known historical account. This book also is a telling of what really happened that didn’t quite make the official account. That’s as succinct as I can put it. Don’t miss it. (I rambled about it a bit more here)

I’m sure some of the other posts in response to this prompt will be more thoughtful and will include titles I need to add to my list. I’m looking forward to reading them. Do you have responses to this? (either for the comment section below or from your own post)

It’s Still Technically Saturday (in MDST) Miscellany—3/28/26

By HCNewton

On March 28, 2026

In Books, News/Misc., Saturday Miscellany

Odds ‘n ends about books and reading that caught my eye this week. You’ve probably seen some/most/all of them, but just in case:
bullet Neverending Stories: On the continuation novel
bullet The Key to Writing Effective Action and Suspense (Part 1): It’s all about answering a question.—Nick Kolakowski follows up on a viral tweet (that I loved), sure, it’s for writers, but we readers can get into it, too.
bullet Modern Retellings for Your Bookshelf
bullet 8 Changes I’ve Noticed in Book Blogging in the Past Few Years—now that Briana says it, yeah, I think I’ve noticed that, too.
bullet 10 Series I Won’t Finish (And Why I’m Okay With That) —I totally get where Already Overbooked is coming from here.

A Book-ish Related Podcast episode (or two) you might want to give a listen to:
bullet A. R. Witham The Shadow of JCM Berne—Witham chats with the author about the fourth book in the Hybrid Helix series, Shadow of Hyperion. How fun is that?

To help talk about backlist titles (and just for fun), What Was I Talking About 10 Years Ago This Week?
bullet Got Luck by Michael Darling—I’m still annoyed that I didn’t read the sequel.
bullet Elphie and Dad go on an Epic Adventure by Hagit R. Oron, Or Oron
bullet A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving
bullet And I mentioned the releases of: Jane Steele by Lyndsay Faye; Got Luck by Michael Darling; and Transgalactic by James Gunn

This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
bullet Enemy of My Enemy by Alex Segura—”Matt Murdock defends the Punisher in the trial of the century—the murder of the Kingpin—while by night Daredevil staves off a war of succession for the throne of the criminal underworld.” I can’t wait to dive in.
bullet Tales in the Midst: A Collection of Short Stories from the World of Jane Yellowrock by Faith Hunter—6 tales from the Yellowrock-verse
bullet Trace Elements: Conversations on the Project of Science Fiction and Fantasy by Jo Walton, Ada Palmer—”From two of the most acclaimed writers in the field today, a groundbreaking look at how SF and fantasy writing—and reading!—work.”

Opening Lines: Murder by Memory by Olivia Waite

By HCNewton

On March 27, 2026

In Fiction, News/Misc., Opening Lines, Quotations

We all know we’re not supposed to judge a book by its cover (yet, publishing companies spend big bucks on cover design/art and we all do judge them that way). But, the opening sentence(s)/paragraph(s) are fair game. So, when I stumble on a good opening (or remember one and pull it off the shelves), I like to throw it up here (especially if I’m out of time to come up with a post that involves writing on my part).

from Murder by Memory by Olivia Waite:

Near the topmost deck, in a small lift with glass walls and flickering buttons, I, Dorothy Gentleman, ship’s detective, opened a pair of eyes and licked a pair of lips and awoke in a body that wasn’t mine.

It was the nails that first tipped me off. Blank bodies were just that: blank. My nails ought to have been the same color as the skin beneath—in my case, somewhere in a range of pinks, tending to florid.

Not silver, and not shaped.

This body was already inhabited.

My skin—someone’s skin—broke out in gooseflesh. Of course every human body was a horrifying collection of juices and tissues, acids and effluvia poured into a bag with a bunch of long rocks, a shambling accident of biology that made its own mysterious and often frustrating decisions without reference to the mind. They were disgusting miracles, every one. It was always a bit unsettling to wake up in a fresh form, until habit made a home of it.

But someone else’s home, and my self inside it! A nightmare. Imagine going to the washroom to be sick and having someone else’s sick come out.

I came very close to making this more than a metaphor. It took many deep, deliberate breaths for the squeamish feeling to subside.

It wasn’t supposed to be like this.

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